Compare and contrast two motivation theories of your own choosing and explain why (or why not) they are likely to appeal to managers.

Motivation Theories

Goal Setting Theory and Expectancy Theory : Comparison and Contrast

Introduction

The issue of employee motivation has been gaining so much attention of managers over the last numerous decades , because organisations realised that in to stand out from their competitors , they need to have a better quality and higher productivity at all levels . Also , they recognized employee is one of the most valuable assets in organisations and they possess components that could directly affect the company 's overall performance , such as skills , experiences and knowledge (Buhler 21 ) As such

, most organisations are looking for ways to motivate their employee in to improve efficiency , productivity and quality

A number of motivation theories have been proposed to explain individual motivation to perform in organisations . Motivation is defined as the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organisational goals conditioned by the effort 's ability to satisfy some individual need (Ramlall 53 ) However , different theories produce different result at different times , and thus managers are now facing a problem that employees are potentially different in terms of personality and reactions to changes . For example , a positive motivational atmosphere is not likely to motivate everyone in organisation , because different employee is motivated by different things (Thompson , McHugh Therefore , it is critical for mangers to decide what motivation theories are most applicable in their workplace and ultimately achieving the organisation goals

Two theories that can be used to explain the motivation of managers are the expectancy theory and the goal setting theory . Both of these are process theories as they are based on how behaviour is , initiated directed and sustained (Billsberry 13 ) and , attempt to identify the relationships among the dynamic variables which make up motivation (Mullins 499 . In this I am going to compare and contrast these two motivation theories . I will briefly explore the context of each theory and attempt to identify the similarities and differences among them . Finally , this will discuss how they apply to managers , and to what extent they can explain the manger 's motivations

The Expectancy Theory

Vroom presented the original workplace related expectancy theory in 1964 , which argued that employees tend to rationally evaluate various on the job-work behaviours and then choose those best behaviours they believe will lead to their most valued work related rewards and outcomes (Vroom 8 ) The expectancy theory suggests that people will put in extra effort if they believe it will result in greater performance , and that the greater performance will lead to desirable outcomes such as bonuses , promotion , a feeling of satisfaction or simply someone saying thank you (Billsberry 13 . The expectancy theory is based on the principle that an individual will act in a certain way on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual . For example , a manager may be more motivated and work twice as hard to succeed for the business if they believe it will increase the chance...